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Amber Evangeline Valletta (born February 9, 1974) is an American model and actress. Amber Valletta first came to international attention as a fashion model within the pages of Elle and Vogue and for advertising campaigns for DKNY and Versace. Her ease in front of the camera led to television hosting duties on MTV, which would later pave the way for roles in several prominent movies, most notably “What Lies Beneath” (2000) and “Premonition” (2007). Valletta was born in Phoenix, Arizona to a mother who worked at the post office. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. She attended Booker T. Washington High School. She got her start in the fashion industry when her mother enrolled her in modeling school at the age of fifteen at the Linda Layman Agency. Valletta has gone on to act in several films, been on the cover of magazines and in advertisements for Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein and Versace and hosted MTV's House of Style with friend and fellow supermodel Shalom Harlow. Valletta was scheduled to appear on Punk'd on Season 6 Episode 3, along with David Boreanaz and Kristin Cavallari, but Kutcher had to move the prank played on Valletta to an episode later to make room for the prank played on Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens. Valletta’s film and television career was launched in 1995 when, like Cindy Crawford before her, she and close friend and fellow model Shalom Harlow co-hosted MTV’s “House of Style” (1995-2000) during the 1995-96 season. She made her acting debut four years later as the abused wife of a charismatic young actor in the independent drama “Drop Back Ten” (2000), which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2000. She also made her sole excursion behind the camera as executive producer of an enigmatic short film titled “Ticks” in 1999. This was followed by a key role as a young woman whose disappearance leads Michelle Pfeiffer to question the innocence of her husband (Harrison Ford) in Robert Zemeckis’ supernatural thriller “What Lies Beneath” (2000). Subsequent movie roles required Valletta to do little more than look attractive and give her leading men a chance to act out Tex Avery-style reactions of lust – she was Nicolas Cage’s fantasy girlfriend in the dreary “Family Man” (2000), and the sole teacher on the side of Alex Linz’s new kid in school in “Max Keeble’s Big Move” (2001). Knowing she was lucky she was being taken seriously at all as a supermodel-turned-actress, Valletta took smaller roles opposite Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore in the woeful Danny DeVito comedy “Duplex” and alongside Kate Hudson in Garry Marshall’s comedy “Raising Helen” (2004) – if for nothing more than continuing to fine tune her acting skills. Valletta dropped out of public view again in 2006 to spend time at The Meadows, a rehabilitation facility in Arizona. According to the actress, her stay was not caused by alcohol or drug-related causes, but instead due to stress. She emerged from treatment that year and returned to movie work in two supernatural thrillers – “Dead Silence” (2007) from “Saw” (2004) director James Wan, and the Sandra Bullock picture “Premonition” (2007). In both films, Valletta impressed audiences with her fragile characterizations, but neither feature performed well at the box office. Valletta is married to renowned Olympic volleyball player Christian "Chip" McCaw with whom she has a son, Auden. Before this marriage, she dated Leonardo DiCaprio in early-1998. Her first marriage, in 1994, was to Hervé Le Bihan. They divorced in 1996. On August 24, 2006, her publicist announced that she was going into rehab for non-substance abuse issues related to stress and image problems. Valletta also serves as the spokesperson for Oceana’s Seafood Contamination Campaign, where she brings awareness of the dangers of mercury poisoning in various kinds of seafood. The decision to join Oceana's campaign was prompted by the mercury-poisoning experience of a friend and the fact that she is a mother. In August 2006, the New York Daily News reported that Valletta completed a stint at The Meadow rehabilitation facility in Wickenburg, Arizona, for stress and non-substance-related issues. Valletta told People magazine, "As was correctly reported earlier this week, my stay at The Meadows had nothing to do with substance abuse or addiction; I am pleased to say I have seven years' sobriety. But I continue every day to heal and grow as a person". In January, 2008, she participated in a video for Barack Obama produced by Will.I.Am called Yes We Can. |
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